Dein erstes Forum » Timbers are in a confident

Real Salt Lake will square off with the Los Angeles Galaxy for the second time in five days on Thursday at Rio Tinto Stadium in the second leg of their Western Conference semifinal series. Catch the game live on TSN2 at 9pm et/6pm pt. RSL enters Thursdays contest down 1-0 after losing in Los Angeles to a Sean Franklin goal. But Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis thinks the quick turnaround will benefit his team. The Claret and Cobalt had 11 days off between its final regular season match and the first leg against the Galaxy, and Kreis wasnt surprised that his side struggled a bit in the first leg. "This is the third or fourth time this season where weve had more than 10 days in between matches," Kreis said. "It causes some difficulties just with our rhythm and our flow. Especially in our possession." Those issues were evident in the first match on Sunday, and that result only continued a trend of trouble for RSL when having too much time off. Since the beginning of September, Salt Lake has had gaps of 14 days, eight days, 14 days and 11 days between games, with the club posting a mark of 0-3-1 in those matches. On the flip side, the team is 8-2-3 in games with four or fewer days of rest in all competitions. Kreis has said that being down 1-0 really wont change the mentality of his side going into the game, but he acknowledged that there is a little different feeling going into this match. "When youre in the middle of the season, you feel like even if things go really wrong, youve got some time to fix it," Kreis said. "You get to the end of the season and you know if things go really wrong, your seasons over. And I dont want it to be over. Ive had a really enjoyable time this year and Id like to press on for a few more weeks." The Galaxy would like to bring an end to that run for Salt Lake, and in the process, press on toward claiming a third successive MLS Cup. Los Angeles was clearly the better side in the first leg, but was only able to come away with a one-goal advantage. Having a lead is important, yet defender Omar Gonzalez knows that his side is in for a real battle on Thursday and that they must come prepared to put in a complete performance. "Were not going in there overconfident. Were going in there to put our heads down and put in some good, hard work, because thats what its going to take," Gonzalez said. The Galaxy has won three of the first four games between the teams this season - including Sundays first leg - and forward Landon Donovan feels like his team is in a great position to get the necessary result on Thursday and advance to the Western Conference final. "We went [to Salt Lake City] twice this year with less than our full team," Donovan said following LAs 1-0 victory on Sunday. "One game we won, 2-0, and one game was 1-1 until the 84th minute or so [as RSL scored two late goals for a 3-1 victory]. Were very confident. We go there with a full team, our teams very fit now, were well rested, were healthy, and we like our chances." Confident Timbers ready to take down Seattle The Portland Timbers made quite an impression in their first MLS playoff match on Saturday, going to Seattle and handing the Sounders a 2-1 defeat in the first leg of their Western Conference semifinal. And that result gives the club plenty of confidence ahead of Thursdays return leg in Portland at JELD-WEN Field, which is a place that Timbers head coach Caleb Porter has labeled "a fortress". Catch the game live on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. "Were one step away," Porter said Saturday after the Timbers win. "We obviously have to have a good performance next game Thursday at home. But they have to come on our home field and get a piece of us in order to get through, and I like our chances. Obviously, we have to play as well as we did in this game. We have to be as hungry, we have to fight as hard, we have to be as organized." Portland knows that a draw on Thursday will be enough to reach the Western Conference final, while Seattle must do what only one team did this season, and that is win a match in Portland. The Timbers put together the top home record in MLS, going 11-1-5 at JELD-WEN Field this season, and that lone defeat came March 9 against Montreal in the second regular-season game of the campaign. Since Aug. 21, Portland has not allowed a goal at home, a streak that spans 450 minutes and includes five straight clean sheets. With that in mind it is no wonder the Timbers are in a confident mood ahead of Thursdays match. However, the Sounders find themselves in a familiar position after the first leg, and are not fazed by the deficit. In the past two seasons Seattle has lost the first leg of a playoff series by a 3-0 score, with the first coming to Real Salt Lake and last season against Los Angeles. The Sounders were unable to overturn either of those deficits, but the 2-1 score they face is certainly not as big a hurdle. "I know right now its not nice, but it doesnt change how we approach the game in Portland," Sounders goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann said. "We still go out trying to win. Thats all we have to do. We just need to win by one goal to get it to overtime." The reason for optimism in Seattle is the late goal scored by midfielder Osvaldo Alonso which reduced the deficit to 2-1. A first-half header from Ryan Johnson was followed by Darlington Nagbes goal in the second half, putting Portland in complete control. But Alonso scored in stoppage time to hand his team a lifeline, and head coach Sigi Schmid thinks his team is fully capable of going to Portland and getting the necessary result. "Its halftime of the game," Schmid said after Saturdays defeat. "We feel very confident we can go to Portland and win. Just as Portland came here and won, we feel very confident we can go there and win." Schmids team would also be boosted by the return of both Obafemi Martins and DeAndre Yedlin, who are to training this week after missing out on the first leg against Portland. With forward Lamar Neagle out through suspension because of an accumulation of yellow cards, Martins return to the lineup would be huge, while Yedlin is hoping to recover in time from an ankle injury to take his place in midfield. Royce Freeman Jersey . Players suspended during the season for a performance-enhancing drug violation will not be eligible for that years post-season. In addition, discipline will increase from 50 games to 80 for a first testing violation and from 100 games to a season-long 162 for a second. A third violation remains a lifetime ban. Bradley Chubb Broncos Jersey . Certainly not Monday night. 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There is no doubt that Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was the one responsible for spoiling Brazils hopes of another World Cup victory at its home tournament.MEDICINE HAT, Alta. - Curtis Valk scored two goals and assisted on one more as the Medicine Hat Tigers downed the Kootenay Ice 5-2 on Sunday to even their Western Hockey League second-round playoff series at a game apiece. Steven Owre also scored twice for Medicine Hat, and Trevor Coxx added an empty-net goal at 18:10 of the third period.dddddddddddd Jagger Dirk and Levi Cable scored for the Ice, who were outshot 37-24. Tigers goaltender Marek Langhammer made 22 saves for the win. Kootenays Mackenzie Skapski stopped 32 shots in the losing effort. 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